Return the Favor
by SorainaSkye
Summary: Manga/Brotherhood 'verse. After Ling becomes the Emperor of Xing, he calls together his old friends to repay a debt.


Written for fma_fic_contest, prompt 322: "Treat". Won first place.

Hasn't been betated, but I did a few cursory edits. I also had some ideas about other stuff to go with this (such as what Al and Winry are being sneaky about) but circumstances prevented me from writing it this time.

In any case, I hope y'all enjoy this.

* * *

They'd been exchanging pleasantries for the past half-hour. Ed was proud to say that this didn't turn him into an "irritated grump" (as Winry liked to say) the way that it used to. He'd gotten old enough to be patient, and to endure all kinds of things, even small talk. And besides, it was just him, Winry, Al, Mei, and Ling at the table, so it wasn't as if he didn't genuinely enjoy talking to them.

However, staying patient was a little more difficult this time around, if only because Ling had apparently done everything he could to keep his plan for all of them a secret. It had been a while since they'd seen each other face-to-face, so Ed would have wanted to come to Xing anyway, but Ling had been annoyingly secretive and eager (a dangerous combination coming from him) about the whole trip. Add in the fact that this trip just so happened to perfectly match up with Winry's vacation time, AND that both Al and Mei were going to be there, and Ed knew that Ling just had to have something up his sleeve.

He felt Winry kick him under the table, and just barely swallowed his surprised yelp. He scowled at her. "What the hell was that for, Winry?" he hissed under his breath.

She scowled back. "You keep giving Ling all these weird and suspicious looks. You're acting like he's going to poison us or something."

He glanced over at Ling, who was sitting at the head of the table, a little above them. He was listening to something Lan Fan was saying to him, her face bent low, close to his ear.

"I don't think he's going to poison us!" Ed insisted, a little too loudly, as the others looked over at him.

"Who's poisoning you, brother?" Al asked, looking more amused than concerned, the traitor.

"No one – " Ed began, but everyone else talked over him.

"Why, whoever would want to poison you?" Mei asked with a cat-like smile strikingly similar to Ling's. "It's not as if you've done anything to make any enemies…"

Al and Winry snorted at the same time, and Ed was caught between irritation – they always gave him shit when they were all together – and a sudden rush of fondness. Unlike Mei and Ling, they weren't at all related by blood, but Al and Winry had always been family, and they'd picked up habits from each other, or sometimes seemed to almost be able to read each other's minds.

"Waaaaiiiiit," Ling said, startling them and actually leaning across the table a little, his expression pitiful like the days he used to collapse from hunger on the street. "Don't make fun of Ed without meeee," he whined, and it was hard to believe that he was the same person who had been listening to Lan Fan (who had done her usual disappearing act) so seriously a few seconds ago.

"Oh, don't worry," Mei said, winking at Ed to take any sting out of her words. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunity."

"Hey!" Ed said indignantly. "Shut up, bean girl."

"Human microbe," Mei retorted, grinning, and Ed fought to not laugh, trying to keep his face as angry-looking as possible, but it was no use, and he smiled back at her.

Ed's attention was caught by the sight of Al and Winry; Al had gotten up from his seat and moved to sit by Winry, whispering something in her ear. They both started giggling, and then looked at Ed, and back at each other, laughing again.

"What are you guys plotting?" He asked them, narrowing his eyes.

"No plots," Al said easily, but Ed only glared in response. Maybe it was all those years in the armor, but Al had the best poker face Ed had ever seen. He had a way of seeming calm, cheerful, and innocent no matter the circumstances, which was probably why most people didn't realize what a diabolical little shit he could be.

"Relax Ed," Winry said, reaching forward and squeezing his arm. She looked mostly composed as well, but there was a mischievous glint in her eyes that Ed knew well. A slight sound from the head of the table caught their attention before he could ask her anything else.

"Well," Ling began, standing, once again looking like the Emperor he was. "It's time to reveal to you all what you are here for." He cleared his throat, and then addressed them again, still serious.

"Not that long ago I was in another country. I didn't have any money, and I usually ended up sleeping in the streets. My faithful bodyguards did everything they could, but we had no means, and no way to know for sure that we would even find what we were looking for." Ling paused here, and his eyes flicked toward something up along the ceiling. Ed turned his head up just in time to see Lan Fan moving behind the pillars on the second floor, keeping watch over them.

"I have a lot of people to thank for helping me survive," Ling went on, focusing on all of them again. "So that's partly what I'm doing today. Thanking you, all of you. But also…"A sly smile started to creep up his face. "I am going to give something back as well."

He made a gesture to the side, and one of the guards in the room opened a door. In came several different members of the kitchen staff, carrying trays of food, all covered with metal lids. The staff put the food on the table, and with a flourish took the lids off of the food.

Ed started at the food for a second, uncomprehending. "This…" he began, poking at one of the dishes in front of him. "Is Amestrian food?"

"Yes it is," Ling agreed.

Ed shared a glance with the others, who all looked as baffled as he felt.

"Erm," Winry began. "Thank you? You didn't have to make us food from our country, Ling, but it was very – "

"Oh, no," Ling shook his head. "I did this very specifically. To settle a debt." He sat back in his chair, leaning his chin on his palm, and kept smiling – this time specifically at Ed, like he was waiting for a reaction.

 _Settle a debt?_ Ed thought. _Okay, so there was that whole thing where he said he'd put me in Xingese history books, but that can't be it. What does he owe me a debt for?_

It came to him, suddenly, and he almost slapped his forehead in realization. Instead he just gaped at the food, and Ling's smile widened.

"You get it?" Ling asked, and Ed nodded, still trying to process it.

"This is – all the food." He began. "All of it. From the – the restaurant in Rush Valley, and – and that hotel in Central…"

"You're kidding," Al breathed, looking at the food with wide eyes.

Ling nodded again, and though he was still smiling, it wasn't so sly anymore. "I knew I would repay you, if I was able," he said.

"Ling…" Ed shook his head, trying to think of what to say. "You didn't have to – "

"Oh, come on," Ling interrupted. "I'm the Emperor! The least I can do is treat you to a meal."

For a second they were all silent, and then Ed laughed. "All right, you bastard! I hope you know this means I'm not holding back!"

"Me neither!" Al called, already piling his plate with food, and Ed quickly did the same.

"You're all going to make yourselves sick," Winry pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

Ed paused, considered this, and then shrugged and starting eating. Later, Winry would – _of course_ – be right, but it didn't matter. They didn't all get together like this very often, and he was planning on enjoying every moment of it.


End file.
